Electric shovel.



PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903..

A. musso.

ELECTRIC SHOVEL; APPLICATION FILE]? MAY 27, 1903.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

K0 MODEL.

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No. 740,165. PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903. A. MUSSO.

BLBCTRIU SH'OVEL.

APPLIOATIOH FILED MAY 27, 1903. H0 MODEL. 1 4 SHEETS-QKEET 2.

i i I )I l i ll I I numlm H T3 WITNESSES: H IN VENTOH W 7 BY' I No! 740,165. PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903.

' A. musso.

BLEGTRIG SHOVEL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1903. 4 N0 MODEL. I 4 SHEBTB-SHEET 3.

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. ELECTRIC SHOVEL Arrmou'ion rmm my 27, ma 10 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

INVENTOR WITNESSES.

I I e viz/z, zrromvm 45 the V g tional view of the magazine and means for U ITED STATE V .l'iatented September 29,1903. PATENT OrEIcE.

NEW JERSEY.-

TIlREE-FIFTHS TO F PORT READING,

ELECTRIC SHOVEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters 1? Application filed May 27, 1903.

atent No. 740,165, dated September 29, 1903.

Serial No. 152.974.. (N model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFREDO MUssO, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Shovels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. r The invention relates to excavators, and more particularly has reference to a system and apparatus for progressively excavating earth .or soil, together with provisions for automatically advancing the apparatus and r transferring and loading the dirt into cars in a most rapid and effective manner.

Heretofore in such apparatus the work has been laboriously carried on with large gangs of workmen and cumbersome machinery, and it has generally been necessary to lay improvised tracks onnneven ground by which the dirtcars could be conducted to one side of the shovel, where they were loaded either entirely or partially by hand. r

The object of my present invention is to provide an apparatus of' increased efficiency designed to overcome these and other disad vantages of previous systems, whereby the work of cutting, tunneling, or otherwise ex- 0 cavating into the earth may be progressively carried on and completed with a minimum number of workmen and the greatest saving of time and expense. The means whereby these desirable results are secured is fully de- 5 scribed in'the accompanying specification and drawings and is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Referring to the drawings,

eral side elevation view, and Fig. 2 is a plan view, of my improved apparatus. Fig. 3 isa transverse sectional View of the shovel operating and forwarding mechanism, taken in a plane just'ab'ove the truck-wheels and showing some parts in plan. Fig. 4 is a detail of shovel proper, Fig. 5 is a verticalsec- Figure 1 is a genstoring the fiexible'track. Fig. 6 is a-tr'ana. verse section of a part of Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate the track with a switch applied to it.

operatin g mechanism.

Fig. 9 is a sectional detail of the shovel- Figs. 10 to 13 are diagrammatic representations of the car-interchanging devices. I

The apparatus is entirely self-contained and, considered functionally, comprises three parts which mutually cooperate to accomplish the useful result above referred to. These parts are the digging or shovel mechanism, the means for intermittently advancing it toward the work, and the transporting and loading apparatus, and a full description of each follows below.

The body of the apparatus comprises an oblong car or box A, suitably mounted on trucks by which it maybe advanced along the tracks B while the apparatus is in. operation or moved over ordinary railroad-tracks fortransportatime. On the forward end of the car-body is rigidly mounted a projecting bracket, and to this bracket a journal-support D, having an inclined arm D, is pivoted to swing laterally. The arm is slotted at its upper end to receive a cross-head E, adapted for reciprocating movement therein, and is also provided with oppositelyextending fixed lugs D slightly offset from the slot in the arm D.

The-shovel F is composed of box-like comtheir edges, as shown by two side arms F,

dicated, to straddle the fixed offset lugs D whereby the reciprocation of thecross-head in the slotted arm' 1) causes the shovel to swing forward with a scooping action to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and depositthe dirt gathered by it in to the hopper G, from whence the dirt is carried to the dirtcars upon a suitable conveyor, as will be presently described.

The cross-head E may be reciprocated in any convenient manner, and in the accom panying drawings 1 have shown a simpleform of gearing, in which two pitmen E areconnected, respectively, to the cross-head E on the opposite sides of the arm D and to wristpins E on the crank-wheels H, which latter are mounted on the ends of a transverse shaft journ aled in meansof chains and sprockets from the mitergears H. The gears H are in turn driven by a vertical shaft passing through the pivot of partments having plowshares or scoops at ends to the cross-head E and slotted, as inthe arm -base D and driven by the journal support and receiving power through universal shafting I and other suitable gearing from the electric motor I, mount. ed beneath the, car-body, as shown in Figs. 1 and The laterally-pivoted shovel mechanism above described is caused to swing slowlyfrom side to side, so as to dig in all directions in front of the car, by means of a segmental gear J, rigidly connected to the pivot of the swingingjournal-supportD. The gear J is engaged by a rack J, secured to the nut J Fig. 9, mounted on the double pitched screwshaft J As the shaft J is rotated by its sprocketchain connection with the armature-shaft of motor I the nut and rack are caused to travel slowly back and forth and move the shovel mechanism from side to side.

The hopper G is semicircular in form and disposed above the shovel mechanism so as to conduct the excavated dirt therefrom to an endless conveyer K, by which it is carried to a chute or distributer L in the rear of the apparatus and uniformly loaded into the cars M,

as will be presently described.

The endless conveyer K is of any suitable construction and travels on the tracks K on the top of the car-body. It is driven from the motor I by ordinary gearing, which it is unnecessary here to describe, or it may be driven by means of a separate motor carried for that purpose within the car, and it may also be provided with stationary side walls K for preventing the excavations from falling off.

l/Vhen power is applied to the parts above described, it will be obvious that the shovel will rapidly scoop up dirt in front of the apparatus as it slowly swings from side to side and deposit it in the hopper and that the dirt will be immediately carried by the endless conveyer and dumped into the cars M. As soon as the apparatus has removed the dirtimmediatelyin front of it it is necessary that it be advanced to act upon a fresh portion, and to this end I have provided a gearing connection (shown in simple form in Figs. 1 and 3) which is adapted to connect the wheel-axle of the truck with the motor at the end of each lateral movement of the shovel mechanism. The connection referred to comprises a pair of idler-gears slidably mounted in brackets on the car-body and adapted to be moved into engagement with gears 2 and 3 by means of the two connected levers 4: 4, moved by the connecting-rods 4 at, pivotally connected to the segmental gear J and held as said gear rocks momentarily in the position shown in Fig. 3. As they recede from their extreme position the connected gears slide out of engagement and the driving connection is discontinued, but the momentary connection has sufficed to move the apparatus a step forward in the direction of the work. At the end of each lateral movement of the shovel the same operation is repeated, as will be obvious from a consideration of Fig.

As the apparatus advances toward the work it lays its own track B, which is of the flexible jointed variety, and the greater part of the car-body is occupied as a magazine for storing the track or so much of it as is not in use, from whence it may be automatically drawn as required by the advancing movement of the apparatus. For this purpose a number of rollers 5, Figs. 5 and 6, are journaled horizontally in the car-body, at the approximate ends thereof, and are provided with wormgears 6, uniformly driven by means of the upright worm-shafts 7, which are geared together by sprocket-chains 8 and connected with the motor I by means of sprocket-chains 9 and 10, vertical shaft 11 and bevel-gear 12 meshing with gear 13 on the armature-shaft. The latter gear is adapted to be clutched to rotatr with the motor armature shaft by means of a suitable clutch may also be connected with a reversing mechanism, (not shown,) if desired.

The flexible track is disposed alternately over the rollers 5 at opposite ends of the magazine and from thence passes down through an aperture in the flo'or to the ground in front of the forward truck-wheels, as shown in Fig. 1. The cables or flexible part B, to which the sections B are secured, are extended beyond the magazine end of the track proper and wound over a drum or roller 5, geared to the top roller 5, so that after the whole of the track proper has been drawn out-say until the last section B is infront of the trucks it may be properly guided back over the rollers when the latter are rotated by the worm-shafts 7.

During the winding up of the track it is obvious that provision must be made for temporarily holding and removing the apparatus from it, and the lifting-jacks 16, adjacent each truck, are intended to serve this purpose.

They may be of any ordinaryconstruction adapted to lift the trucks bodily from the track and are driven by suitable electric mo- .tors inclosed in casings 17, which also being of ordinary construction and well understood do not require detailed illustration or description.

lVhile the apparatus is temporarily elevated off the track the winding-rollers are set in motion by shipping the clutch and the track is drawn up from the rear and stored in themagazine. The car-body is then lowered onto the tail end of the track and is ready to be farther advanced in the automatic manner above described.

Fig. 7 illustrates in detail a plan View of the track, showing it to be provided with crossties and flexible cables or stringers. The track is also adapted to form a roadway for the dirt-cars M, Fig. l, which run under the chute L and when loaded thereby are moved back over the flexible track and onto otherordinary tracks, if desired, to their destinations. As the machine is adapted for practically continuous action, and as the excavated dirt 14 and lever, but

is in consequence continuallydelivered to the cars for loaded ones with the greatest rapidity,

' and for this purpose I provide a switch 0,

which may be laid upon and over the track B at any point thereon, but preferably immediately behind the chute L. The crossing rail of the switch is notched at O, as shown in Fig. 8, for the passage of the flanges of wheels on track B. The empty cars maybe kept in readiness either on the main track or the switch, and as one becomes filled it may be moved out of the way on one track and an empty car put in its place beneath the chute from the other; i

A further refinement of my invention provides means whereby the interchange of cars above referred to may be automatically effected and whereby the car may be gradually advanced while beneath the chute so that it will be uniformly loaded. In the embodiment of this means each car has a driving-motor and is provided or connected with a source of power which is controlled by means of aslidecontroller P, Figs. 10 to 13, operated by a buffet plate, with a side arm P extending laterally therefrom.

As' a loaded car passes down one track it trips the lever Q, which is pivoted to a fixed point, and operates the extended arm P and controller P of the next empty car which is waiting to be filled at the point shown in Figs. 10 and 11. The effect of this operation on the empty car is to shift the movable contacts B. into engagement with the fixed contacts R,

so as to connect its motor into the circuit of the source of current X and start the car-forward beneath the chute L, whereupon it is uniformly filled with dirt until the buiferplate strikes the fixed stop S and shifts the controller to its other extreme position,whereby current is immediately supplied to the carmotor in a reverse direction, and the car backs quickly out from under the chute and over theswitch-track 0, operating the trip-lever 2 for the next empty car, and so on with each succeeding car.

A cabin or pilot-house is provided on the top of the car, in which an operator may con-' trol such circuits and levers as arenecessary to be manually controlled in the operation of the apparatus.

It will be observed that improved means may be provided whereby the transmission of power from the motors to the several moving parts may be materially simplified and made more closely to conform with the requirements of the apparatus without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. mechanism may also be supplanted by other forms capable of depositing the dirt in a conveyer and the apparatus may be generally improved in details, all of which improvements are intended to be included, and covered by the annexed claims.

The shovel I claimcar-body and a shovel mechanism mounted on the forward part thereof, in combination with automatic mechanism for advancing the apparatus toward the work.

2; An excavating apparatus comprising a carbody and wheels uponwhich the said body is movable, a shovel mechanism mounted on said body and means for actuating the same, in combination with means controlled by said shovel mechanism for driving said wheels, whereby the apparatus may be automatically advanced toward the work.

3. An excavating apparatus comprising a car-body and wheels upon which said body is movable, a shovel mechanism mounted on said body and means for imparting lateral movement to the same, in combination with a motor and means controlled by said shovelmechanism for connecting said motor to rotate the wheels at the end of the lateral movement of said shovel mechanism.

4. An'excavating apparatus comprising a movable car -bodyand shovel mechanism mounted on the fore part thereof and a conveyer extending from the shovel mechanism to the rear of the apparatus, in combination with means for advancing the apparatus in the line of its work. p

5. An excavating apparatus comprising a shovel mechanism mounted on the fore part thereof and a conveyer extending from the shovel mechanism to the rear of the apparatus, in combination with a hopper above said mechanism adapted to receive excavated dirt from said shovel and conduct it to said conveyer.

6. An excavating apparatus comprising an endless conveyer and a hopper for conducting the dirt thereto a'shovel mechanism located below said hopper and provided with means for depositing the dirt upon said hopper,

7. In excavating apparatus, a shovel mechanism-comprising a support and a reciprocating cross-head mounted thereon, a lug on'said support offset from the line of travel of said cross-head, an arm pivoted to said cross-head and engaging said lug, and a shovel mounted on said arm. a 8-. In excavating apparatus, a shovel mechanism comprising a support and a verticallyswinging shovel mounted thereon, a reciproeating cross head for swinging said shovel and a crank wheelfor actuating said crosshead.

9. An excavating apparatus comprising a support and a shovel mechanism pivoted for lateral movement thereon, means for causing such movement, comprising a rack and segmental gear, a nut secured to said rack and a double-pitched screw-shaft for reciprocating said nut.

10. An excavating apparatus comprising a car-body and wheels upon which said body is movable, a shovel mechanism mounted on said body and means controlled by the shovel mechanism for advancing it toward the work, in combination with a flexible track stored in said body and adapted to be automatically laid in front of said wheels as the apparatus advances.

11. An excavating apparatus comprising a movable car-body and shovel mechanism car- 'ried thereby, a flexible track upon which the troller, and adapted to move on said flexible track, and a stop on saidexcavating apparatus operating said controller.

14:. In excavating apparatus a dirt-car provided with a driving-motor and a controller for reversing the direction of movement thereof, and a buiferplate on the car connected with said controller.

15. In excavatingapparatus, the combination with a dirt-car provided with a drivingmotor and a controller for reversing the direction of movement thereof, of a lateral extension connected with said controller, a tripping-lever secured to a fixed point and adapted to engage said extension, whereby the passage of a car on an adjacent track Will operate the said controller.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALFREDO MUSSO.

\Vitnesses:

H. S. DUELL, F. P. TARFIELD. 

